


The Emo Who Stole Christmas

by Mycatshuman



Category: Cartoon Therapy (Web Series), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Christmas, M/M, Non-binary character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-05
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2021-02-17 21:48:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21550294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mycatshuman/pseuds/Mycatshuman
Summary: Emile is a young Who who is questioning the Holidays, mainly Christmas, and what it is really about. After an encounter with the mysterious cryptid the town calls the Grinch, they decided to record the true story of the Grinch. They uncover secret relationships and past bullies. And of course, what kind of Grinch au would this be without a stealing of Christmas?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Logicality, Prinxiety, demus - Relationship
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	1. Story time!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emile begins exploring their feelings about Christmas and has a run in with the cryptid the Grinch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Commercialization of Christmas, falling down the mountain, Grinch used as an insult? Small car crash with no harm, brief mention of playing with matches, mentions of messing with mail? Almost getting crushed by a stamp, child being wrapped in wrapping paper, that might be it I'm not sure and I know these sound weird but I'm just being careful.  
> This was supposed to be posted on the first. But apparently I didn't let it post?

Snowflakes fall through the dark sky. A sparkling flake flies close and then we zoom inside the snowflake, watching sparkling crystals fly by as we start on our journey. 

_Storytime!_ _Inside a snowflake, like the one on your sleeve, there happened a story you must see to believe._ The clouds break away and we see snow-covered mountains and evergreen trees dotted across the landscape. 

_And in that snowflake, way up in the mountains, in the high range of Pontoos, lay the small town of Whoville: the home of the Who's. Ask any Who, And they'll say: "There is no place like Whoville around Christmas Day!"_

_Every window was flocked, and every lamppost was dressed and the Whoville band marched in their Christmasy best! Or holiday best if they celebrated a different holiday._ Who's run through the town as the snow falls around them, their arms full with bags and gifts and decorations. 

_Arbor Day was fine, and Easter was pleasant and every Saint Fizzin's day, they ate a Fizz pheasant. But every Who knew, from their twelve toes to their snout, they loved Christmas (or other winter holidays like Kwanzaa and Hanukkah) the most, without a single Who doubt._

_\------_

A man with dark skin hurriedly says "Farfingle's welcomes you! Thank you! Happy Holidays! Thank you for shopping at Farfingle's!" The man is looking a little pale as he tries to keep up with the sales as people shove money at him to pay for gifts. No one stopping to take their receipts, causing the man to become exhausted and fighting to keep his smile on his face. 

Patton walked around as he stared at his long gift list. "We got a snoozlephone for your brothers Missy and Pranks, a muncle for your uncle, fant for your aunt, and a fandpa for your cousin Critic. That means we just need….." Patton paused and looked around, realizing he couldn't find his child. "Emile?" He called out. "Emile? Honey?" He turned to find a set of legs sticking out from under a square of presents. He crouched and pulled a wrapped gift from the middle and his child's face peered out at him. Their face was pinched slightly and they seemed uncertain about something. "Doesn't this seem like a bit much?" They asked as they glanced at the presents. 

Patton chuckled heartily. "Oh no! This is what Christmas is all about!" Emile scrunched their nose as they looked at their father. "Can't you feel it?"

Emile shook their head and sighed as they left the store getting ready to head to the post office, where Patton worked. In the background, the sound of the store clerk’s increasingly exhausted voice sounded. "Wait! Don't forget your change!!!!!" 

Outside, the loud bell tolled and everyone froze. The Counter shouted, "Another Minute Closer to the Holidays!"

"And now, for the next ten minutes only, 99% off!!" A store owner shouts out into the busy streets and everyone rushed forward to try and get as much as they could from the store. 

\-------

_Yes, every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot. But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not._

_\-----_

Four Who teenagers climbed up the mountain quickly laughing and giggling, on their way to cause mischief. Or so they thought. "Come on! All the good mistletoes at the top! Pranks! I'll race you!" Emile's brother Missy shouted. 

"The last one to the top is a stinky old Grinch!!" Pranks shouted as he raced past his brother. 

"Where are we?" One of the teens said as she climbed up alongside her sister. "I think we should go back before something bad happens."

"What? Are you scared of the Grinch?" 

The other sister huffed and grabbed her sister's arm and marched up to the door and hesitated. "Go on! Touch the door!" Missy cried out. The sister gulped and reached forward only for the door to swing open and a huge ugly purple face with piercing fangs stared at them with malevolent eyes. A thundering growl sounded from the pit of the beasts' throat. The teens screamed and turned around only to tumble down the mountain head over heels. 

"Remy!! Look at them run!! Scared them so bad they fell right off our mountain!!" A deep voice laughed as he picked up an apple. "It serves them right. Those Yuletide-loving sickly-sweet, not-sucking cheer mongers! I don't like them. I really don't." The voice paused as they stopped and a flush spread across their pale face. "Well, most of them." The voice moved out the door and stood looking down at the town of Whoville. "Remy! Sass master! Get my cloak!" The figure grimaced as he looked down at the town. "I've been too tolerant of these delinquents and their 'innocent, victimless pranks'." The figure's frown deepened as he glared at the town. If looks could kill. "So, they want to get to know me? Do they really? Want to spend a little quality time with the-" the future's nose scrunched in disgust. " _Grinch!"_ He spat out the name as if it had hurt him. And maybe it had. He huffed and then turned to his cat Remy who sat next to his midnight colored cloak. A wicked grin spread across his face. "I guess I could use a little...social interaction." 

\---------

A dark clothed figure walked through the town, A small dark grey cat trotting along beside them. Well, maybe walking wasn't so accurate. The figure seemed to glide and float across the ground as if it was an otherworldly spector. However, none of the Who's seemed to notice this different looking figure. "Happy Holidays!" A person called cheerfully as they walked past the figure. Virgil grimaced. "Yeah, yeah, you bet. Ho, ho, ho, and all that stuff or whatever." If any Who had stopped to peer closer at the hooded figure they might find a weird creepy mask and a lanky body covered in dark purple fur. It was a suit Virgil used to frighten the Whos more. It also to stay warm in the biting cold weather. 

A horn blared as a car crashed into a pole and Virgil gasped overdramatically. "Oh no!" He exclaimed and looked down at Remy. "Someone must have vandalized that vehicle. Don't you see, Remy? This city is a dangerous place!" He snickered after he confirmed his little trick hadn't hurt anyone.

_The Grinch hated the holidays. The whole Holiday season. Or maybe he didn't. Maybe it just hurt to remember what the Who's had done to him. But please do not ask why. No one quite knows the reason. Aside from one other._

Virgil stopped two children and handed then a play saw, perfectly harmless but looked very real. "Here's a present for you two! Now be sure to run real fast with it! Double time!" 

_Some believe it's because his head wasn't screwed on just right. Or that his shoes were too tight. But they think the most likely reason of all is, maybe his heart is two sizes too small._

As Virgil was walking a man stopped him from moving any further. "Hey, there stranger! Won't let you go until you buy a chapeau!" Virgil lifted his mask and hissed. The salesperson who had stopped him fainted out of sheer terror. Virgil held back a snort and he and Remy were on their way. 

\-------

Patton carried presents alongside his child, Emile as they made their way to the post office. "Oh boy! Nothing beats Christmas! Right kiddo?" 

Emile frowned. "I don't-I guess." 

Patton frowned and turned to look at his child. "You guessed?" He asked, concern lacing through his words. 

Emile shrugged as they looked down. "I mean, I look around and see you and Pa getting all kabbabled and doesn't it seem...superfluous?" 

Patton opened his mouth to say something when a loud screaming reached his ears and he froze, turning towards the source of the noise as everyone around them did the same. 

"DAD!!!!" Missy and Pranks raced into the town square as the Mayor came out of his office along with his assistant to see what the commotion was about. 

"What happened to you?!?!" Patton asked panicked. The two boys were covered in frost and snow as they tried to stutter out a response. "It was the Grinch!" 

Virgil looked up. "What do you want?" He froze, "I mean.." He pitched his voice higher. "'Grinch? Oh, no!'"

"Did you say Grinch?" The mayor, Anton Who said as he stalked over to the family. 

Patton froze.“H-Hello Anton, M-Mayor Sir.” Patton said as he moved his children behind him. 

Anton sighed "Patton, I don't think I need to remind all of you that this Christmas marks the one-thousandth Whobilation."

"Whoville's most important celebration!!" The mayor's assistant cut in. 

"As you know," the Mayor began as he pulled out a very large and thick book. "The Book of Who says very clearly, 'Every size of Who we can measure knows that Whobilation is a time we must treasure!'" He closed the book, perhaps a bit too quickly. "Now, Patton. Please tell me that your children have not been up on Mount Crumpit provoking one and only creature within a billion bilometers of here who hates the holidays!"

Missy and Pranks began speaking quickly, "But it was the Grinch-" 

Patton stopped them by covering their mouths, terrified of what the consequences may be for them and their family if they kept talking. "No, Mayor. They didn't see no Grinch. They were probably just up on the mountain playing with matches or defacing public property or something…" 

The Mayor let out a sigh of relief as he placed his gloved hand on his chest. "Oh! That is such a relief." He turned his extravagant cape dragging behind him. "All right! You heard the man! There is no Grinch Problem here! Happy Holidays!" The mayor called cheerfully. 

Virgil frowned and raised his mask and stuck a straw between his lips and spit a ball of paper at the Mayor. The mayor frowned and whipped the ball off his face, disgusted. Virgil chuckled as he pulled his mask down and went off again. 

\-----

Roman May let out a sigh as he realized he still had four hours until it was dark enough to leave town. So he just rolled his new purchase home, slowly, hoping to kill more time. He paused at the post office however and let out a faint chuckle as he noticed the end of a cape and a cat's tail slipping through the crack in the door as it fell close. He sighed dreamily. "That's my love," he muttered fondly to himself and walked away with a lot more pep in his step than before. 

\-----

Emile frowned as they watched their dad walk down a long hallway with envelopes and presents as he stuffed them in small cubes lining one wall that leads into the room on the other side. "Dad, I just- I don't understand something."

"Hhm?" Patton asked as he continued working but made sure to give his child the attention they deserved. 

"Why is everyone so against talking about the Grinch?" 

Patton huffed quietly, a little admirable of his child's fascination. "You kids and the Grinch…” he said softly. "You see, Emile, the Grinch is a Who, who always…." He paused. "Well...he's actually not a Who. He's more a..." 

"A what?" 

Patton nodded. "Yeah, he's more a what who doesn't like Christmas or any other holiday." Emile's face pulled down into a frown as they listened to their dad. "Just take a look at his mailbox. Not a single card, in or out. Not ever!" 

Emile looked at the empty mailbox that had seemingly been empty for so long that cobwebs filled the dead space. "But why?" They asked as they turned to look at their dad, unsure why someone wouldn't have at least been kind enough to try and include him. 

Patton opened his mouth to answer his child only to be cut off by people crowding around the front counter. "Patton! I got the wrong mail!!!" Someone cried out frantically and Patton gave Emile an apologetic smile and walked to the counter. "I'm coming!" He called out. "We can sort this all out!" 

\-----

Virgil grinned wickedly as he stood in the mailroom and looking at the mailboxes from the other side. "Oh, this will take them years to sort out!" He began to grab envelopes and switch them around. "This is his and now it’s yours. This is hers and now it’s his!" He giggled gleefully and turned around. Picking up a stack of bright yellow envelopes he spun around. "And for the rest of you!" He flung envelopes into random mailboxes with great force as he chuckled madly to himself. "Jury duty! Jury duty! Jury duty! Blackmail! Pink slip! Chain letter! Eviction notice! Jury duty!" Remy watched unamused as Virgil tried to wreak havoc. He rolled his eyes, as well as a cat could. Virgil may seem threatening but in all actuality, he was just a hurt soul trying to hurt those who hurt him but was too nice to do so. At least he had Remy to keep him in check. 

\-----

Patton walked over to Emile and held out a small stack of envelopes. "Hey, Emile, would you mind helping me take this to the mailroom?" Emile nodded and took the envelopes from their father. Patton smiled and ruffled their hair. "Thank you. Now be careful of the sorting machine, alright?" 

Emile nodded with a small smile and turned around and opened the door to the mailroom and glanced over as they watched the conveyor belt drop presents down a hole to have **Fragile** stamped on the side. They set the mail down and turned to leave only to hear a loud splat. They turned around and frowned as they noticed an ugly, overly happy mask sitting on the floor. They bent over and picked up the mask and inspected it. 

Virgil and Remy stared down below at the small Who child that had entered the mailroom. They were squished into the corner of the ceiling, trying to stay perched where they were until the child left. Then Remy sneezed. "Gesundheit," Virgil muttered. Emile gasped and whirled around, their gaze going to the ceiling. "Whoops."

Emile stuttered as they stared at the purple fur of the Grinch and the dark grey cat and screamed. The Grinch screamed back. Emile screamed again, and as the Grinch let out another scream they slowly composed themselves. "You're the...the...You're the..."

Virgil jumped down and leaned forward into Emile's face. "The Grinch!" He snarled. Emile screamed and fell back into a pile slowly falling through the hole in the floor leading to the conveyor belt for the sorting machine. Virgil blinked as he tried to calm his racing heart. "Well...I guess that worked out..." He quickly turned towards the door, terrified of getting caught. "Remy, let's go. Our work here is done." 

"Help!! Help me! Please! Somebody!" Emile screamed as their head fell closer to the conveyor belt. Remy stopped just short of the door and gave Virgil a look that said, 'I know you're gonna feel guilty about this. Go help them, gurl.' 

Virgil huffed at being called out despite not actually hearing what Remy said, he was pretty good at telling what his cat was thinking. "All the bleeding hearts of the world unite! Ugh!" Virgil turned around and grabbed a hold of Emile's ankle before pulling the child out and quickly turning them upright. "There!" Virgil exclaimed. Although he turned his voice down at noticing the slightly shocked face of the child. He huffed and yanked the mask from them. "Give me that! Don't you know you're not supposed to take things that don't belong to you?! What are you, some kind of wild animal?!?!?" 

Emile blinked, desperately trying to process what exactly had just happened. They quickly found their voice as they vaguely heard the Grinch say something about leaving to their cat. "Thank you for saving me!" 

Virgil froze and slowly turned around to face the child again. "Saving you?" He asked slowly, carefully. "Is that what you think I was doing?" Emile nodded. Virgil huffed. He couldn't have this getting out, who knows how many teens would come up to bother him then! He grimaced. "Wrong-o!" He glanced to the side and noticed a roll of wrapping paper on a wrapping paper holder. He glanced back at the child. _They can't know where I'm going. I have to make sure to stall them._ "I simply noticed you weren't properly packaged, dear child." 

Emile stepped back only for the Grinch to began rapidly wrapping them up in the shiny red wrapping paper. "Hold still!" The Grinch exclaimed. Then he turned to his cat. "Remy! Pick out a bow!" Then the Grinch paused. "May I use your finger for a moment?" After a few more moments, Emile felt the Grinch's presence move away. They heard a snap and an "ow" at what, Emile assumed, was the Grinch putting his mask back on. 

Emile stood silent for a few moments after the Grinch left before they began shouting. "Hello! Hello!" 

Patton frowned as he looked for his child. A small "hello" drew him towards the mailroom and he opened the door. "Emile?" 

"Dad! Daddy!" Emile called out as they sensed their father moving closer. 

"What ...?" Patton was speechless as he noticed a figure wrapped in wrapping paper around the size of his child. "Emile? Is that really you?" He asked again and began removing the wrapping paper.

Once Emile's head and torso were uncovered, they grinned excitedly at Patton. "Dad! It was astounding! Th-"

"You have been practicing your Christmas wrapping!" Patton exclaimed, eyes twinkling. "Oh, Emile! I am so so proud of you!! That's the holiday spirit!!" 

"O-oh…" Emile train of thought halted as they took in their father. His black-framed glasses and the grey cardigan pulled tight over his postal uniform. The smile that was wide on his face, beaming with pride. Emile subconsciously rubbed at the grey material of their school uniform. 

_Kind little Emile didn't know what to do. In their head, a conflict or two humbled around their brain. 'If The Grinch was so bad, then why did he save me?" They thought. "Maybe he wasn't as bad as they say." Maybe. Just maybe._

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think?


	2. A Secret Relationship and Truths Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emile has more questions and there are two proposals. Emile sets off to uncover the truth about the cryptid the Grinch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: crying, misunderstandings but they are resolved, talk of past bullying, discrimination against hair color for being "unnatural", and an asshole mayor, cursing, let me know if I missed any.

Emile frowned as they pulled up to their house with their dad. The house was dark and looked intimidating compared to the houses around it as they were lit up with lights of all colors and sizes. "No lights on. Your Pa must be out shopping." 

A head popped up on the roof. "Oh! Good! I'm so glad you're home!" Emile and Patton looked up to see Logan up in the roof, wrapped in a long coat as he held a strand of lights in his arms. "I can feel it, Patton!" He exclaimed. His eyes alight with determination. Emile frowned as they watched their father. "When the town asks who has the most spectacular of lights in Whoville, they're going to say, 'Mr. Logan Lou Who!!' This is the Year!!" 

Patton chuckled fondly at his husband. He glanced to the side and noticed something a bit concerning. He reached forward and lifted the object carefully. "Is this the Chandelier from our dining room!?!??!" Emile's frown deepened. They found their unease about the holidays taking root deeper. 

"Its all for the cause, Honey," Logan called out. He had to be superior, he just had to be. "Oh! Emile, Honey bee! Could you be my little helper and unscrew the lightbulb from the fridge?" Emile blinked rapidly, trying to determine if their father was in fact serious. "I somehow missed that one." 

Emile peered closer at their dad and noticed his tie tucked firmly in place and decided their father was in fact serious. Emile forced a smile onto their face as they walked inside carrying a small stack of presents. 

"Every. Single. Year." Logan muttered as they grabbed light strands and began moving them trying to set them up. "Mr. Roman May Whovier has the best lights. But not this year! This is the year I am going to defeat that prim, perfect, prissy little prince-" Logan was interrupted by the man himself. 

"Logan! Hello!" Roman called out dramatically. 

Logan looked over to see Roman in a deep holiday red Santa dress with white trim, Santa hat and matching red boots, tights, and gloves. Logan frowned. "Roman." 

Roman chuckled. "I've never seen so many fabulous holiday lights, Nerd!" Roman shouted from his spot on his front porch. He was just a little disappointed that he was stopped momentarily from his journey but couldn't help but tease his next-door neighbor. 

"I'd probably blow every single fuse if I tried to keep up with you, Roman May!"

Roman smirked and picked up a beautiful sparkling antique. It looked almost like a large heart-shaped Christmas tree ornament, though it was missing the top. Each part sparkled individually when moved. At the very end, there were large gold tassels that Roman ran his fingers through. "Isn't this darling? It's handcrafted and near 100 years old!" 

"Oh! Wow!" Logan muttered to himself, sarcastically. "I'm really impressed!"

He set it back down in its gift box carefully and turned to something covered in a sheet. "However, this is new." He turned the machine on and aimed it towards his house. Then he shot a stream of lit holiday lights up at his house and they quickly caught onto the house and strung up in a perfect line, giving his house a magazine perfect look. He walked around and blew out the smoke. He turned back to find Logan barely concealing his dropping jaw. He smirked. "Well, good night Logan!" He shot Patton an unseen sympathetic smile and snuck off with a box. 

\---

Logan rushed to answer his phone as Patton came behind him with a candle. "Hello?" He asked. 

An unfamiliar voice answered, "Is your sub-zero chillibrator running?" 

"Hold on, let me check." Logan paused and listened and heard the slight hum of their refrigerator. "Yes, my sub-zero chillerator is indeed running." 

Virgil snickered, "Well then you better go catch it!" He yelled into the phone and hung up the payphone. (On the other end Patton snorted as Logan stood frozen, the dial tone blaring out from the phone speakers.) Virgil turned to Remy with a smile, "I think I broke ‘em." He chuckled. "Alright, let's go home." Virgil and Remy climbed into a trash chute. Virgil hit the side of the chute and the two of them were sucked through the chute as the lid slammed shut. As they tumbled through the tube leading up to the top of the mountain, Virgil groaned. "There has got to be a better way to do this." Soon they fell out into a pile of garbage. Virgil huffed. Then they heard rumbling from the chute. "Oh, wonderful! More trash!" Three bags fell into his lap and he rolled his eyes. He grabbed a bag as he stood up. "What is that stench?" He asked nobody. "It's absolutely fantastic!" He exclaimed sarcastically. He grabbed another bag and began dragging them behind him as he began walking home. "Come on Remy, let's go home. We can come back for the rest later." He huffed. "It's amazing just how much the Whos throw away. They really could do a lot better with recycling." 

He sighed. "But it all falls to me, as always." Remy frowned in his own cat way. His father was so depressed. And he wished he could do more to help him. 

\------

Emile sighed as they looked around their room at all the holiday decorations and frowned. " _Where are you Christmas?"_ Emile sang to themselves softly. _"Why can't I find you? Why have you gone away?"_ Emile moved over to their window and looked out at Mountain Crumpet. _"My world is changing. I'm rearranging. Does that mean Christmas changes too?"_ Emile sighed and moved to their desk where a letter for Santa sat unfinished. _"Where are you Christmas? Do you remember? The child you used to know? You were so carefree! Now, nothing's easy. Did Christmas change? Or just me?"_ Emile hung their head and moved to get into bed, A fitful night ahead of them. 

\----

Virgil sighed as he opened the door to his home. He set the two bags of garbage he grabbed onto a catapult and pulled the lever. The bags slammed into a blown-up poster of Mayor Anton Who. Virgil smirked. He really did not like the Mayor. He moved away and hung up his cloak on a hook. He used his homemade elevator to get to the ground floor of his cave. "The first floor, factory rejects." Virgil stepped off the platform and moved behind a screen to get changed. He pulled off the suit and pulled on sweats, a t-shirt, and his favorite hoodie. As he walked past his phone, he checked for voicemails. "Any calls?" 

**"You have no new messages,"** the voice from his phone said. 

Virgil frowned. "Odd. Better check my outgoing." He flipped a switch and his voice with a hint of Tempest Tongue came out through the speaker. _"If you utter so much as one syllable, I'll hunt you down and gut you like a fish!!!"_ Virgil blinked. _"If you'd like to fax me, press the star key."_ Virgil shrugged. He ran down the stairs and jumped into his couch and picked up a bag of chips. "I don't know why I ever leave this place, Remy. I have all the company I need right here." 

Remy rolled their eyes, a strange feat for a cat but the amount of bullshit that came from Virgil's mouth, half the time Remy was so in need of an eye roll that the laws of anatomy had to be defied. Virgil opened the chip bag and stuffed them in his mouth. "Am I just eating because I'm bored?" 

"Oh, you’re bored? I can change that~" a husky voice whispered in Virgil's ear, causing him to jump a mile high. Roman grinned and came around the couch and hopped into Virgil's lap. 

"Roman!" Virgil coughed out. "Don't do that!!" 

Roman chuckled and snuggled into Virgil's neck. "But it's so fun. And you look so flustered!"

At this, Virgil's blush only went darker. "Roman!" He exclaimed, his voice an octave higher. 

Roman grinned and pressed a kiss to Virgil's neck before pulling away. "I got you something today." 

"Ro…" 

Roman huffed. "Yes, I know what you're going to say. But I really, really, want you to have this!" Roman quickly pulled out a box and set it on his lap. Virgil sighed but pulled his arms away from their place around Roman's waist. Roman pouted slightly at the loss of contact before holding his breath as Virgil pulled out the antique he had shown Logan earlier. Virgil's eyes widened as he realized how fragile the gift his love had given him. 

"Roman...this is…"

Roman bit his lip. "Do you like it?" 

Virgil gulped, wanting to look at Roman to answer but too scared to look away from the gift for fear of dropping it. "I love it...but-" 

Roman shook his head. "I didn't, as you would say, "waste any money" on it. Although, how can anything be a waste of money if it's for you~" Roman said with a wink towards Virgil. 

Virgil raised an eyebrow and smirked. "So you stole it then?" 

Roman made an offended Princey noise. "No!" He exclaimed and then calmed down. He looked down at his hands and fidgeted. "I-um…This was in my family for decades. And it was passed down to the firstborn and they are supposed to give it to the person they want to marry." 

Virgil blinked as he tried to process what exactly was happening. "Wha….are you…." Virgil blinked rapidly as he felt his eyes getting watery. "Are you? Is this a marriage proposal???" 

Roman bit his lip. "Maybe," he whispered. 

"I-" Virgil paused. "Can you take this?" He asked as he handed the gift back to Roman. Roman blinked rapidly. _Is he saying no??!_

Virgil picked up Roman and set him on the couch gently before running off to grab something. He came back to find Roman in the same position only with tears running down his face. "Love??" Virgil asked and he kneeled in front of Roman. He reached forward and wiped away Roman's tears. "Why are you crying, Ro?"

"Are ...are you saying 'no'?" 

Virgil's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "No! I'm not-" Virgil groaned and facepalmed. He brought out a small box. "I'm- not." 

Roman looked down at the box and let out a gasp. He carefully set the antique down as quickly as he could. He picked up the box with trembling hands and opened it to find an extravagant ring with a blood-red ruby and gold plated band. It looked like something out of a fairytale. Tears streamed down Roman's face as he put the ring on his ring finger and launched himself at Virgil, tackling his lover to the ground. "Yes!! Of course, I'm going to marry you!!! Yes!! Yes!!! Yes!!!" Roman exclaimed as he planted kisses all over Virgil's face. 

Virgil giggled as he held onto Roman's hips to stop him from falling over. Once Roman stopped, he laid down on top of Virgil as the other's arms came up to wrap around his boyfriend-his fiance's torso. Roman sighed. "I love you, Virgil." 

Virgil smiled dreamily as he snuggled closer to Roman (if that was even possible) and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "I love you too, Roman."

Eventually, the two moved to the bed and cuddled underneath the covers as they fell asleep to the soft hum of music. 

\-------

Emile sat at their desk as they frowned. They had many questions in their curious heart. Why did the Grinch hate Christmas so much? Where did it all start? They had their Pa's blabbacorder and they had used it to gather as much information of the Grinch as they could.

Emile pressed play and was taken back to earlier that day when they stopped to talk to the elderly couple who had raised the Grinch. 

***Flashback***

_"In your own words, please tell me all that you know about the Grinch."_

_The couple in front Emile shared a glance, not used to being asked about their son. "Well," they started. "First, you should know we didn't name him Grinch. We named him Virgil," Remus said as he knitted a green sweater._

_"Virgil?" Emile asked._

_Damien nodded. "Yes. Virgil. Now, he came the way all the Who children come." Remus perked up about to say something only for Damien to cut him off. "On calm nights, Baby Whos drift down from the sky in their own pumersellas."_

_"So that's how it works!" Emile exclaimed._

_Damien nodded and elbowed Remus to stop him from shaking his head. Remus frowned but nodded and picked up where his husband left off. "It was Christmas Eve, and a very strange wind blew that night! It was tasty!"_

_Damien rolled his eyes fondly at his husband. "We were having our annual holiday get-together, while Virgil landed right at our doorstep. Nobody realized he was out there until morning came. But when we saw him, we knew right away he was special."_

_"How did you know?"_

_"Well, his hair was the most vibrant purple we had ever seen!"_

_"Purple??" Emile asked. It was not a natural hair color for Whos._

_Remy's nodded! "Yeah! Very purple! And that morning, we tried to give him cookies! We came over with some cookies on a Santa plate. Then he said Santa!! His first words were Santa! And then we let him hold the plate and he took a bite out of it!!"_

_Damien rolled his eyes. "It near gave me a heart attack but he didn't get hurt and he actually tried the cookie and he liked that better. After that Remus learned how to cook and made things into weird shapes and Virgil would eat it so I was very grateful for it."_

_"We raised him the best we could."_

***End Flashback***

Emile paused the recording and switched to a different one, trying to listen in a different order than they had first heard them. They pressed play and they were taken back to when they first talked to their neighbor, Roman May. 

***Flashback***

_"The Grinch?" Roman asked Emile. Emile nodded. Roman bit his lip. "He...was a very quiet child. I hardly remember him though. I was way too busy with my studies to socialize." A memory of Roman staring at Virgil in class dreamily flashed through Roman's mind. He bit his lip. "The class we were in was going to have an annual holiday gift exchange…"_

***End Flashback***

Emile paused the recording and switched to another one. They remembered their interview with Mayor Anton Who.

***Flashback***

_"The Grinch...he liked Roman. Now, Roman was my boyfriend." Emile kept their face as passive as they could, but they found it hard to believe that Roman really was the Mayor's boyfriend. "You know, I really dislike discussing this Grinch business so close to Christmas…But maybe if you hear the truth, then you can understand why…" Anton stopped and glared down at his assistant who was cleaning his shoes. "Put your back into it!" Anton turned back to Emile found it really rude of the mayor to treat his assistant so cruelly. "I took the Grinch under my wing."_

***End Flashback***

Emile paused the recording and unpaused another one. Damien's voice came out through the recording. 

***Flashback***

_"Virgil told us that he was picked on by most of the students In his class. He told us Anton Who was picking on him the most for his crush."_

_Remus frowned. "He told him, 'You don't have a chance with him. You're 8 years old and you have purple hair!' It really upset Virgil."_

***End Flashback***

Emile frowned. They paused the recording and skipped to a moment they remembered in the Mayor's interview. They pressed play and the Mayor's voice came through again. _"He had this…unnatural hair. It wasn't right."_ Emile paused the recording again. They turned back to the recording of their interview with Roman. Emile was transported back to what happened during this part of their recording. 

***Flashback***

_"Did I have a crush on the Grinch??? Of course not!!!"_

_Emile raised an eyebrow. "I didn't ask you that."_

_Roman panicked slightly. "Right…..umm"_

***End Flashback***

Emile stopped the recording. _I think I'm on to something!_ They quickly pressed play on the recording with Virgil's parents. Remus's voice came through the speaker. _"Virgil came home that day before his classes gift exchange and he was even more in the spirit of gift-giving than before."_

 _"It's not that he doesn't like Christmas,"_ Damien's voice broke in. _"It's just, he doesn't like how commercialized it has become. And that whole evening, he worked on creating a gift for his crush. But the bullying from Anton made him buy cheap brown hair dye. He came home that day, just before we all moved up into the mountain-"_

 _"You moved up into the mountain?"_ That was their voice. 

_"Yes,"_ came Remus's voice. _"Just until he was old enough to live on his own. But he told us that his teacher had asked if everyone had given their gift, Virgil called out that he hadn't and stepped out where he had hidden behind the coats."_

_"He had a bag over his head to hide his hair and the teacher told him to take it off. He did and hid behind an open book. She told him to set that down too. And then she told him to take off the hood on his hoodie. After that, everyone laughed at him. Even the teacher."_

Emile stopped the recording and switched to Roman's. _"He was so upset. He ended up throwing the gift he made for me, it smashed into the wall. Then he picked up the tree and threw that as well!"_ Emile paused the recording as he remembered something the mayor and his assistant had said about this moment. _"The anger."_ That was the mayor.

 _"The fury!"_ said the assistant. 

Emile frowned and pushed play on Roman's recording again. _"The muscles!"_ A pause. _"It was such a horrible day. They were so cruel to him."_ A barely concealed sob. _"I could hardly bear it … that was the last time anyone ever saw him. The very last time."_

Emile stopped the recording. "I need to talk to Roman again," they said as they stood up and prepared to go talk to Roman again. 

\-----

"Emile?" Roman asked as he opened the door. "What are you doing here? Did you forget to ask a question?"

Emile shook their head as they stepped inside and Roman closed the door. "No, I was curious." 

"About?" Roman asked as they sat down across from each other. 

"What..what do you really think about Virgil?"

Roman froze. He subconsciously played with the ring on his finger sitting beneath his gloves that he had hurriedly pulled on before answering the door. "I-" Roman bit his lip, debating with himself before he pulled off his gloves.

Emile frowned, unsure how this was relevant but paused as they noticed the ring. "Did-did the Mayor give that to you?" 

Roman sighed and shook his head no. "Virgil did. I...lied earlier. Virgil is…" Roman sighed as he got this far way dreamy look in his eyes. "Virgil is the only man I could ever love. Unlike most of the Whos in this town, Virgil sees me. Actually sees me. I'm not just some pretty face or voice. Virgil loves me for me." 

Emile's eyes widened. "So...are you saying the Grinch isn't bad??"

Roman frowned. "Grinch! Ugh! It's such a horrible name! One that Mayor Anton started. Virgil is the kindest person I have ever met. He just wants to be left alone. And he likes being our local cryptid." Roman sighed, starstruck. "Isn't he the greatest?" 

Emile smiled softly. "You really love him."

Roman nodded. "I do. We-" he looked down at his hand. "We're engaged now." 

"Congratulations!" 

Roman smiled. "Thank you." 

"When…did you see Virgil again after that day?" 

Roman sighed. "It was sometime 8 or 9 years later. Anton had asked me to the school dance. And I was so furious with him. I would much rather go with Virgil. Plus, he had played a big part in driving him away. So right after school, I grabbed the gift Virgil had made me, I had kept it in a box all those years, and I marched up Mount Crumpit in the hopes I would be able to see where he might have gone. And then I found a door. I knocked, and his parents opened it." 

Roman paused. "I was in such a shock. And I asked to talk to Virgil and they, although suspicious, let me. And Virgil fixed the gift after I apologized for not standing up for him. After that, we just…kept in touch. I would visit him at least once every week. And eventually, after his parents moved back to town for good, we went on a date. And…” Roman smiled fondly. "The rest is history I suppose." 

Emile smiled. "I think...I might want to make him the holiday cheermeister."

Roman blinked. "Oh hun, I don't know. He has anxiety and probably won't accept." 

Emile shrugged. "It's worth a shot." 

“You’re right about that…” Roman grinned. "I'll help you convince him!" 

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome." 

Emile stood to leave only to pause before they reached the door. "Where's the gift he made you now?" 

Roman smiled softly. "Its sitting right beside my bed." Emile smiled and nodded before leaving. The Grinch wasn't bad. He wasn't even a Grinch after all. He was just a victim of bullying. As Emile walked home, he decided he was going to make the town see the real "Grinch". 

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think?


	3. Virgil Is Meme-Worthy, the Mayor Is an Ass, Roman Is Very Gay, and Emile Just Wants a Happy Holiday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is invited to be Holiday Cheer-meister by Emile and Roman. Roman provides his outfit but doesn't realize how big if a mistake that is and now he's expericening Gay Panic™. Things take a turn and Virgil's back to being the Grinch in the eyes of the Who's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: anxiety, nervousness, past bullying mention, Virgil being treated as a joke, peer pressure? Brief mention of fire, cursing, let me know if I missed any.

_ So, because Virgil was just petty and meme-worthy enough, he stood outside his cave home hating the Whos. _

Virgil huffed as he glared at Whoville through his telescope. He turned around and stomped inside to grab his phone. He stomped back outside and scowled as he stared down at the town. "Let's do it alphabetically. Aardvarkian Abakenezer Who...I HATE YOU!" The wind howled as it carried his shout off. Virgil smirked. "Aaron B. Benson Who, I hate you." Then Virgil went down the list. "Hate, hate, hate. Hate, hate hate. Double hate," He paused as he came to the Mayor's name. "Loathe entirely!" He growled and shoved his phone in his pocket. He crossed his arms and pouted. As he stood there, the wind whipped and brought a cheerful melody along with it. Virgil's eyes widened and he gasped. "Nutcrackers! Shit! Fuck! It's their Whobilation!"

_ He snarled with a sneer.  _

"Tomorrow is Christmas! It's practically here!" He said and whirled around, racing inside he shouted, Remy! Please get me my sedative!!" Virgil raced around until he found a large mallet. He stood in front of his bed and stared at the object in his hands like it was his salvation. "Now, to get rid of those pesky memories!" He quickly slammed the mallet against his face and fainted, dropping the mallet and falling back into his bed. 

Remy stood atop his cat tree constructed of boxes and just shook his head. 

\-----

Emile watched as Whos dressed up as candy canes ran past excitedly singing. "Whobilation, plentiful with candy canes and pies. I can't wait to get there and eat some google fries! Whobilation! Whobilation!!" Emile bit their lip, they were dressed in a red dress with a checkered apron and big blue fluffy mittens. They turned back to their Dad as they followed them to the nomination ceremony. "Dad?" They asked nervously. 

"Yeah?" Patton asked as he carried a pile of presents. 

"I've been thinking about the Whobilation and I may do something drastic."

Patton nodded. "That's fine, Emile. Just ask your father." 

Emile frowned and glanced around. "Umm, where did he go?" The two stopped as they heard Logan's distance voice. 

"Honey!! Honey! Look!! I just found the cutest little light for my Christmas display!" Emile's eyes widened as they noticed their father carrying a traffic light. They opened their mouths to say something with the distant sound of a horn blaring and undeniable crash of a car. Patton jumped and turned his worried face behind them when Logan grabbed his arm. "Come on, we're gonna be late!" Emile stared after their parents in disbelief before shaking off their shock and running after them. Most of the Whos in Whoville (those that celebrated Christmas, Whos who celebrate other holidays had separate days for their Whobilation celebration, depending on when their holidays started) stood in a big crowd surround town hall. On the steps stood a red and green podium. Whoville band stood off to the side and Roman May right in front of them dressed in a large poofy red dress with green trim and gold details along the bodice. His eyelids were dusted with silver and gold eyeshadow and his lips were a deep holiday red. His face bore a kind smile but for anyone who truly knew him, they would notice the sorrow in his eyes at not being next to his loved one.

Mayor Anton stood beside Roman, his pristine white-gloved hands gently holding the edges of the podium as he waved at his town. Behind him, a red cape sprawled out trimmed with white and black fur. If anyone knew any better, they would say he was trying to emulate a king. A very rich king who only saw them as his lowly subjects. 

"And now!" Anton exclaimed once everyone had settled down. "The nominations for the Who among us all who best represents the best qualities of Whodom and Whodery! The Whoville holiday cheer-meister!!"

The crowd erupted into loud cheers and applause. Mayor Anton smiled as he soaked up the attention like a greedy sponge. Roman spared a glance at the man and his nose wrinkled in disgust. The image of a younger Anton laughing as he made fun of a young Virgil ran through his mind, making him more upset. "Do I hear a nomination?" Anton, a knowing smile as he prepared to act shocked upon hearing his name. 

"I nominate the Grinch!" 

The Whos all drew in a loud collective gasp as they all whirled around and split a clear path to Emile Lou Who. "The Grinch??" Patton and Logan whispered to each other as they looked at their child with dropped jaws. Roman allowed himself a fond smile as attention was drawn away from the steps that led into the town hall. "The Grinch?" Mayor Anton asked slowly. Roman's eyes widened and prayed that he wouldn't insult Emile. "My, my, my!" The mayor exclaimed as he looked up at Patton and Logan. The two parents gulped, authority intimated them. They didn't want to be outcasted. Not like the kid in their class so many years ago. "What an altruistic child you have there!" 

"Thank you," Patton replied nervously. 

Anton gave a tight smile to Emile as he walked around the podium to come to stand in front of it. Emile slowly walked up, scared yet feeling exhilarated at the same time. "Let me quote a verse from the Book of Who." The mayor's assistant hefted a heavy book over and placed it in the mayor's arms. "Thank you." The mayor quickly opened the book and flipped to the page he was looking for. "Ah! 'The term 'Grinchy' shall apply when Christmas spirit is in short supply''. Now, I must ask: does that sound like our holiday cheer-meister?" 

Emile cocked their head to the side. "True, Mr. May-Who. But the Book of Who says this too: 'No matter how different a Who may appear they will always be welcomed with holiday cheer.’”

Anton panicked slightly as he heard the crowd began to whisper their agreements with Emile's quote. Roman felt his heart swell with joy. His love was getting a chance to prove them wrong! "Ah! Yes, it does..but it also says…" he frantically looked through the book trying to find anything to help him. "It also says 'The award' cannot go to the Grinch because…' sometimes things get the lead-pipe cinch.'" He quickly closed the book and tucked it under his arm.

"It doesn't say that! You made that up!" Emile raised their voice, they would have known if it had after staying up all night and studying the text front to back to make sure they were doing everything legally. The crowd's head whipped back to look at the mayor. 

"No, it does.." Their heads whipped back to Emile. 

"What page?" 

Anton's eyes blew ridiculously wide as the crowd whipped back to face him. He fumbled with the book for a few seconds before going, "I, uh, lost my place, but it's-it's in here!" 

Emile frowned. "But the book says, 'the cheer-mister is the one who deserves a back slap or a toast. And it's supposed to go to the soul at Christmas who needs it the most.' I believe that the soul is the Grinch." Emile turned away from the mayor to face the crowd. "And if you're the Whos I hope you are, you will too." 

"They're right!" A voice called out. The crowd cheered. Patton and Logan placed a hand to their hearts, pride for their child bright on their faces. 

Anton frowned but quickly forced a small smile to their face. "You want to waste a perfectly good nomination of the Grinch, that's up to you. But I'm telling you! The Grinch will never come down!" 

"And when he doesn't, the mayor will wear the crown!" The mayor's assistant exclaimed. 

Anton blinked, seemingly surprised. Roman knew he wasn't. "Well...more or less." 

The crowd erupted into song again and ran through the town to begin the festivities. 

\-------

Virgil lay flat in his bed. His covers pulled up his chin as he stared sleepily at the ceiling. "'Tick, tock, tick, tock. Counting down the Christmas clock. Old, young, big, small-ALLLL!" Virgil shot up and quickly pulled the pillow down over his ears. "Blast this Christmas music!" He exclaimed as he fought to keep sound out of his head. "It’s loud and triumphant." He flung himself out of his bed and up to the second floor. "Must! Drown! Them! Out!" He yelled as he poured nails into blenders and closed them, turning them all on high. "It's not working!!!" He cried out helpless, feeling overwhelmed. 

\----

_ The wipper-winds whipped, high above the Who town. A trip or a slip, you'd slide all the way down. _

Emile looked out over their town as they climbed the mountain and huffed as they moved higher.

_ But this child had a mission. They knew what to do. They would invite the Grinch themselves, that brave Emile Lou.  _

Emile knocked on the Grinch's door, a loud sound pounding through the metal. After getting no answer, Emile decided they were going to open the door, unaware of someone down in the town noticing their absence and preparing to follow them. 

As Emile walked inside, the door closed shut behind them, the biting cold outside becoming extinguished in the warmth of the Grinch's home. Emile glanced around at the big open area and noticed a ledge over a lower level. They looked down and saw a tall pale figure with rich purple hair. They quickly located the stairs and rushed down to see the Grinch- Virgil standing in front of the toy monkey. Each time the monkey clapped the symbols together, they slammed around Virgil's head. Emile winced. "Mr. Grinch?" They asked, unsure if they were allowed to use his real name or not. They reached forward and tapped on his shoulder. 

Virgil shot up and closed his hands around the monkey's holding them there until the toy broke. Virgil slowly turned his head to face Emile. "Hello, little child." He turned completely, as he realized that he wasn't wearing his Grinch suit and was dressed in sweats and a hoodie, something not really intimidating, he decided he would have to play it up if he wanted to keep his reputation. "How dare you enter, the Grinch's lair!?!?!" Remy rolled his eyes and began to groom himself as all cats do when their pet is being ridiculous. 

"The impudence! The audacity!! The unmitigated gall! You called down the thunder, now get ready for the boom!" Virgil tried to twist his facial features into a scary grimace. "Gaze into the face of fear!" 

Emile raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. They sighed. "Mr. Grinch, my name is Emile Lou Who-" 

Virgil began feeling his heartbeat pick up with panic as he realized this child wasn't affected. He tried harder to be scary. "Even now! The terror is welling up inside you." 

Emile giggled. "I'm not scared of you." 

"Denial is to be expected in the face of pure evil!" Emile shook their heads. "Doubt! Another unmistakable sign of the heebie-jeebies!" Virgil yelled jumping around trying to scare the child. "You're doomed now!!" He quickly pulled a random white shirt on over top his hoodie and worked on ripping it open. "Run for your life! Before I kill again!" He exclaimed as he ripped the shirt off and began dancing around like a maniac. "I'm a psycho!" Virgil paused as he still got no reaction from Emile. He frowned. He began hopping around shouting, "Danger! Danger! Danger!" 

"Maybe you need a time out?" Emile replied, trying desperately to talk to the man before him without hurting his feelings. 

Virgil stopped and blinked. He crossed his arms and frowned as he looked off into the distance muttering to himself. "Kids today, so desensitized by movies and television." He whirled back to face Emile. "What do you want?" He asked wearily. 

Emile smiled. "Mr. Grinch, I would like to invite you to be a holiday cheer-meister." Virgil raised an eyebrow and glanced down at the invitation Emile held out to him. 

"'Cheer-meister. Celebrate with friends,'" He read. He laughed. "That's a good one!" He turned and stalked off as he tried to push down the hurt he felt at being pranked so bad. 

Emile followed quickly. "Look, I know you hate Christmas!"

"I don't hate Christmas," Virgil muttered to himself. "I just hate all the commercialism." 

"I myself am having some doubts! But if you reunite with the Whos and be a part of the holidays-"

"Maybe if you reunite with the Whos and be a part of the holidays," Virgil mocked. "Grow up!" He yelled back as they walked up the stairs. 

"Maybe it'll be okay for me too!" 

"I'm sorry, your session is over. Please make another appointment on the way out!" Virgil sneered. 

"Please! You have to accept the award!"

Virgil paused. 

"An award? You never mentioned an award." 

Arms wrapped around Virgil's torso as a head lay softly on his shoulder causing Virgil to jump before he realized who it was. Emile smiled fondly at Roman and Virgil. Virgil blushed furiously. 

"Please, darling? Emile here was able to convince the town to accept the nomination. I think they're willing to give you a second chance!" 

Virgil bit his lip. "I don't know…" 

Roman smirked and kissed Virgil's cheek. "Mayor Anton wasn't happy," he whispered. 

Virgil eyed lit up with mischief. "He wasn't?" 

Emiel shook their head. "No, he was actually trying to find a law that said we couldn't nominate you." 

Virgil smirked. "Well, if it really bothers him, I suppose I can show up ...maybe…” 

Roman grinned and gave Virgil another kiss before turning to Emile. "Come on, we gotta get back down there before people notice we're missing." 

"Okay." Emile turned and handed the invite to Virgil. "I really hope you come, Virgil."

Roman and Emile made to leave before Virgil's uncertain voice stopped them. "If I were to go…should I wear the suit?" 

Roman shook his head. "I think it's better if you don't. It will show you're willing to take this second chance." 

Virgil nodded. "Okay...maybe I'll see you later." 

Emile and Roman grinned before going over to stand right behind the front door. Virgil walked over and waited for both of them to prepare for the drop. 

"I love you, V." 

"Love you too, Ro." 

Virgil pulled the rope and the floor beneath Roman and Emile gave way to a chute. The two dropped down and slid through the tube laughing and giggling. Then they shot out of one of the chutes for trash and landed in a pile of snow. Roman stood up and helped Emile up. "Go find your family."

"Will he actually come?" Emile asked. 

Roman blinked before giving Emile a soft smile. "I'm pretty sure we wore him down. But even if he doesn't, I know he really appreciates your gesture. And he's really anxious so don't take it personally if he doesn't, okay?" Emile smiled and nodded. Roman grinned back and turned to get to his place. "See you later, Emile!" 

"See you, Roman!" 

\------

Virgil pouted in his recliner. "The nerve of them! Inviting me down on such short notice!!" He set the invite down on a side table. "Besides, even if I wanted to go, my schedule wouldn't allow it!" He turned and opened a big book and read his schedule out loud. "'4 o'clock, wallow in self-pity. 4:30, gaze into the abyss. 5 o'clock solve world hunger, tell no one. 5:30, jazzercise. 6:30 dinner with me. I can't cancel that again," Virgil said as he bit his lip. "'7 o'clock, wrestle with my self-loathing.'" Virgil paused. "I'm booked!" He sighed and bit his lip, knowing just how pathetic he sounded as he looked at Remy's unamused face. "Well, if I bumped the loathing to 9, I would still have time to lay in bed and stare at the ceiling as I slip slowly into madness." He paused again, feeling excitement bubble up in his stomach. "But what would I wear!?!" 

Virgil jumped out of his chair and ran to a nearby table piled with junk. He gripped the edge of the table cloth beneath it and yanked hard as he walked away. After noticing nothing fell off the table, he quickly turned around and shoved everything off the table and then tipped it over for good measure. He stood in front of his mirror and stared unsure at the skirt he had fashioned for himself out of the table cloth. He frowned and ripped it off and ran to his closet. "Stupid!" He cried out as he threw articles of clothing behind him. "Ugly! Out of date!" He stomped out of his closet. "That's it, if I can't find something nice to wear, then I'm not going!" 

Remy knocked a box off of a table near the door creating a loud thud. Virgil jumped and turned to face whatever had happened and noticed a rectangular box wrapped in crimson red and sparkling gold. He frowned. He didn't remember that. Curiously, he walked over and gingerly picked up the box. It wasn't until he noticed Roman's fancy script that he felt safe to open it. He let out a gasp as he saw the plum-colored dress shirt and midnight black dress pants. He carefully lifted them out and noticed a purple and red plaid vest and silver converse. He picked up a note and quickly read through it. 

_ Virgil, I would love to see you at the Whobilation, but if you don't want to you don't have to. However, if you do, I would adore finding you in this~. _

Virgil quickly ran to put the outfit on. He nervously looked at himself in the mirror and found he actually liked what he saw. He struck some confident poses before walking away with a pout. "That's it, I'm not going." 

\-----

Mayor Anton stood in front of the crowd again with a broad grin. "It's time for our Holiday Cheer-meister of the Year Award!" The crowd erupted into cheers. "Congratulations, Mr. Grinch!" He turned to the spot next to him but there was no one there. He let out a sarcastic sound of surprise. "He isn't here?" He didn't show?" The crowd frowned and began talking amongst themselves as Emile tried to stay hopeful. "Who could have predicted this?" The mayor asked. Roman found himself wishing he could just choke the heck out of him right then. 

\----

Virgil bit his lip. "Okay, I'll swing by for a second, allow them to envy me, grab a handful of popcorn shrimp and blow out of there," Virgil said as he walked over to leave. Suddenly, he paused and spun around dramatically. "What's if it's a cruel prank? What if it's a cash war?" He gasped. "How dare they! Okay, I'll go...but I'll be fashionably late...no. Yes. No. Yes! No! Yes! Nope! Definitely not!" He spun back towards the door. "Alright, I have made my decision! I'm going! And that's that!" He raised his hand. "Oops, I had my fingers crossed!" 

Remy quickly pulled the rope before Virgil could move and Virgil dropped through the floor. "Maybe I should have flipped a coin!" He screamed as he shot through the chute. 

\-----

"I guess the award goes to the runner-up," the mayor said. 

His assistant quickly moved to speak into the mic. "That's right! A man for whom Christmas comes not once a year, but every minute of every day! A man who has had his tonsils removed twice!" 

The mayor laughed. "Now that is an interesting story! You see what had happened was-"

He was cut off by the sound of screaming. In a blink, Virgil shot out of the trash chute and bounced off a banner before bouncing off of a trampoline and then flying over the crowd towards Roman who looked both scared and happy. He braced himself for impact as Virgil collided with him and they fell back against the steps leading to the town hall. "Hello, Roman," Virgil mumbled, his voice muffled as his face was smashed into Roman's chest. 

"He made it!" Emile exclaimed happily. Patton and Logan pulled them back as Virgil hopped up and stared at the crowd causing everyone to lean back in fear. Some of them confused, this couldn't be the Grinch, he wasn't hairy at all. He looked just like them aside from his unnatural purple hair. Roman sat on the steps trying to get some oxygen as he realized just how hot his fiance looked in the outfit he picked for him. He bit his lip, maybe he shouldn't have picked that out. It took all of Roman's self-control not to grab the other by the collar and yank him into a scorching kiss. 

"Boo." The crowd screamed as Virgil spoke. Someone even fainted if the tell tall thud that followed was anything to go by. Virgil smirked. "Hot crowd, hot crowd." He sighed as Roman carefully stood up. "I believe I am here to accept an award of some kind?" 

The mayor masked his face of disgust and grabbed a mic. "Don't worry, Mr. Holiday Cheer-meister, you'll get your award! But first, a small family reunion." Virgil's eyes widened. "They nursed you! They clothed you! Here they are, your parents!" Damien and Remus ran up to their son with a large sweater and quickly pulled it over before Virgil could argue. 

"Aww!" Damien and Remus cooed. "You look so adorable!" 

Virgil flushed and bit his lip before glancing down and screaming. Let's just say, the sweater was way too colorful for Virgil's taste. 

"Put him in the Chair of Cheer!" Someone exclaimed. 

Virgil's eyes widened. "Chair of cheer? What's the Chair of Cheer? You didn't tell me about the Chair of Cheer!" 

"Please, Mr. Grinch. Please!" Emile called out adorably. And Virgil found he couldn't argue. But that didn't mean he would put up a fight. 

"No, it's too much! Too soon!" He cried out as he was shoved gracelessly in the chair. Roman stifled a giggle and blew Virgil a quick kiss and a wink. Virgil pouted. 

"Yes! It's that time of year! The Cheer-meister's ride in the Chair of Cheer!" The Mayor exclaimed with reluctant cheer. 

"Put me down!" Virgil exclaimed as he was carried around in the chair. "I mean it! I will get a lawyer! There will be Hell to pay!" 

"First, we'll put your taste buds to the test with the Who pudding cook-off!" 

Virgil sat as a bunch of people swarmed him all trying to shove pudding into his mouth. He nearly choked multiple times as no one gave him time to swallow or even taste the different puddings. 

"Christmas Conga!" The mayor exclaimed as everyone gathered in a line behind Virgil as he led them in a dance. He bit his lip. 

"Would you look at the time. I really should be getting going!" No one listened. And to be truthful, Virgil was actually enjoying himself and didn't want it to end. 

"Fruitcake, tra-la-la!" Everyone swarmed Virgil once again to stuff his face with their fruitcakes. "Fudge Judge!" 

This time, Virgil was ready. "Bring it on!" He called out as people swarmed him again. "Bring it on! Is that all you got?! Is that all you got?!" 

Then Virgil competed against a bunch of kids in a sack race. "No child can beat the Grinch!" Virgil exclaimed. Roman screamed excitedly and then stopped to compose himself as he looked around at the other cheering Whos. He didn't want to give anything away with Virgil, knowing Virgil wasn't ready yet.

"He won!" Emile exclaimed excitedly. Patton and Logan smiled at their child as they smiled with a real and bright smile. 

Everyone began lining up everywhere holding a present and Virgil watched as he stood in between Roman and Mayor Anton. "And now, it's time for the moment we have all been waiting for! It's time for Present Pass-it-on!" Virgil's eyes widened and he quickly looked for something to give Roman as the Mayor waited for the Whos to stop cheering excitedly. 

Roman smirked. "You already got me something, dearest." Virgil paused, his face twisted in confusion. Roman wiggled his fingers on his left hand, the glove covering the ring but Virgil knew it was there. He flushed as he remembered and Roman found himself once again having to practice a titanic amount of self-control to not pull him into a kiss. 

"As always, we start with our Cheer-meister." Virgil gasped as the mayor handed him a box. He quickly tore it open, excited. It seemed as if they really were giving him a second chance! He dumped the object inside out into his hand and blinked. Emile's eyes widened as they noticed the object and Roman found himself trying to stop himself from ripping the mayor's head off. Virgil's fingers curled slowly around the bottle of brown hair dye. Damien had to hold his husband in an iron grip before things got bloody. "The gift of a Christmas dye." 

Virgil felt his mind flashback to his childhood.  _ "Look at that dye job!"  _ A young Anton's voice rang through his head. He thought they were giving him a second chance. He thought, maybe, Anton felt bad for what he did. Virgil should never have been so naive. 

"Good times! Good times!" The mayor exclaimed as he gave the Grinch a pat on the back. "And now, I have something for the love of my life." The mayor's assistant quickly handed him a small box and the Mayor got down on one knee as he opened it in front of Roman. Virgil's eyes widened in shock, surprise, and hurt. Roman felt his eyes blow wide as fury erupted in his gut as he stared at the hideous three diamond engagement ring. Emile bit their lip as they watched. "Roman May, please become Mr. Anton May-Who." 

"Anton-" Roman started through gritted teeth. 

"When you agree to be my husband, you'll also receive, along with a lifetime supply of happiness, a new car!" The crowd parted as a new car moved in all squeaky clean and new. Roman stared horrified. Virgil frowned as he realized his fiance was beginning to feel overwhelmed. "Generously provided by the taxpayers of Whoville! You've got 20 seconds on the clock, what do you say Roman." The kahoot sound played as the crowd waited for Roman to accept. 

"I really don't-these gifts are quite dazzling," Roman stuttered. 

Virgil's face twisted in concern as he heard his love's automatic response, something that happened when Roman unconsciously tried to be what everyone wanted him to be. He stepped forward and took a nail then dragged it over the car's surface. The Who's covered their ears at the screech before directing their attention to Virgil. 

"Of course they are. That's what is all about, right?" He asked his voice raising as he began to get worked up. "That's what it's always been about!" He chuckled humorlessly. "Gifts! Gifts, gifts, gifts." He yelled with distaste. Roman stared at him as if he was his hero and Virgil decided, he would do whatever it took to help Roman find a way to skip out of any more festivities. "Do you know what happened to your gifts? They come to me. In your garbage. Do you see what I mean? In your garbage!" Virgil exclaimed. "I could hang myself with all the ugly holiday neckties I found in the dump!" Virgil turned and pointed an accusing finger at the Mayor. "And the avarice! It never ends!" Virgil hopped from foot to foot as he mocked the Whos. "'I want golf clubs' 'I want diamonds' 'I want a pony so I can ride it twice and then sell it to make glue!'" The crowd watched in stunned silence. 

"Now, I really don't want to make waves, but this whole Christmas season is stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Virgil shouted as he pointed at different Whos. One of them startled so bad they fell over. Virgil paused in his rant and turned to face the mayor and Roman again. "There is, however," he started as he slowly crept up the stairs towards Roman. "One teeny-tiny Christmas tradition I find quite meaningful." Virgil quickly pulled Roman into a kiss and dipped him to the crowds’ loud gasps. Mayor Anton himself looked absolutely furious. Virgil pulled back and ripped the plant off the top of the ring box Roman held in his hands. Roman found himself trying to compose himself after having a serious case of Gay Panic™ at his fiance's stunt and finding himself again overwhelmed with just how hot Virgil was. "Mistletoe!" Virgil exclaimed as he dangled it above his head before whirling around and bending over. He dangled the plant above his butt. "Now, pucker up and kiss it Whoville!" Outraged and terrified gasps rang out as some people fainted. Roman decided,  _ why not? _ And "fainted" along with them. Maybe he would be able to get out of the rest of the celebration and be able to go visit Virgil. 

The mayor turned to quickly help Roman up before Virgil grabbed ahold of his shoulder and whirled him around. He took his "gift" and squirted the dye all over the mayor's hair. "Somebody looks fabulous!!" Virgil exclaimed and dropped the bottle of hair dye before going off to cause more chaos. Whos all ran for their lives screaming. 

"Let’s go!" Patton exclaimed as he picked Emile up and carried them to safety despite their screams of "No!" 

"Hey, Remus-dad!" Virgil exclaimed as he slid up to stand next to them. "Mind if I wet my whistle?”

"Of course!" Remus nodded eagerly as he handed his flask to his son despite his husband's tired protests. 

Virgil took a gulp before tossing the flask back at Remus and taking the lighter Damien held out to him. With that, he quickly turned to the towering Christmas tree standing in the center of the square. And then he quickly caught the tree on fire. All Whos halted and watched in horror as their tree burst into flames. The ashes raining down in a pile, the star topping landing in the pile. "Burn, baby! Burn!" Virgil grinned wickedly as he spun in a quick circle in the middle of the chaos. "Oh, the Whomanity!" He then ran off, unaware of Roman's eyes on him. His fiance in awe at the fact that all that had to happen was for someone to hurt him and then Virgil would destroy everything. It made him feel like a damsel-in-distress and Virgil was his knight. Roman sighed fondly. 

\----

"Taxi!" Virgil called as a taxi blared past him. "It's because I'm angry, isn't it!?!" He asked. It wasn't his fault someone decided to press his jealous button and then put his fiance in an uncomfortable situation. He frowned and stepped out into the road and stopped a small car. "Halt!" Two tiny sized Whos stared up in fear. "Evening, folks! Mind if I tag along?" He turned and went to sit causing the two to scream and run. "You did the right thing!" Virgil took the car and took off. "Out of the way!" He shouted as he noticed a child pushing a stroller. They froze and he jerked the wheel to the side causing the car to spin out of control until it crashed. He landed in a heap and groaned. "That is soo gonna hurt in the morning." He looked down and noticed sparks and leaking gasoline. His eyes widened and he quickly fled. "It’s gonna blow!" He was thrown into the snow as an explosion erupted behind him. 

\-----

Mayor Anton stood in the middle of the ash from their tree. "I'm hurt. And I don't hurt easily," he said as Whos gathered around. "I am so disappointed in you, Emile." 

Roman stomped over about to say something before being cut off again. "Can't we just get back to Christmas the way it's supposed to be? Grinchless?" He picked up the Cheer-meister's crown and pulled it onto his head. He turned to the crowd and left Emile behind. "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!" 

Emile's family looked between each other and quickly ran up to their child. Emile looked down. "I just wanted everyone to be together for Christmas," they cried. Tears spilled over their cheeks as they remembered the way the mayor treated Virgil and how everyone laughed along with his idea of a joke. 

\-----

Virgil laughed as he moved to climb into the chute leading to Mount Crumpit. "I quite enjoyed that!" He chuckled humorlessly. "I hope I get another invite soon!" He paused and looked over to see the Whos carrying a spare Christmas tree in. He groaned and raised a fist in defeat. "Son of a bitch! They are relentless!" He cried out and slammed his fist on the side of the chute and was sucked in and began the bumpy ride up the mountain. A bell chimed. 

"Only four hours until Christmas!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think?


	4. You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch or Virgil and Roman Are Done With the Who's and Decide to Get Back at Them.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil makes it home and suddenly Roman's there and he's hurting. So the two plan to steal Christmas. The Who's finally understand Emile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: stealing of Christmas, may be some cursing, grown adult blaming a child for their problems, let me know if I missed any.

Virgil stood staring down at the Whoville in the ice-cold snow. 

_ Yes, the Grinch knew that tomorrow all the Whos would wake bright and early and rush for their toys.  _

"And then, the noise! Oh, the noise! Noise, noise, noise!" Virgil exclaimed as he stomped around. "They'll bang on tong-tinglers. They'll blow their floo-flounders. They'll crash on Jang-jinglers and bounce on boing-bouncers!" He held his hands to his ears as if he could already hear the horrific noise. 

_ Then Whos young and old would sit down to feast.  _

"And they'll ready and they'll feast. And they'll feast, feast, feast, feast!!" Virgil exclaimed as he stomped around. "They'll eat their Who pudding! And rare Who roast beast! And that's something I can not stand in the least." Virgil paused in his ranting. "Oh no!" He exclaimed horrified. "I'm speaking in rhyme!" He cried out. "Blast you Whos!" He exclaimed as he fell to his knees. 

_ The more the Grinch thought of what Christmas would bring…the more the Grinch thought... _

"I must stop this whole thing!" Virgil exclaimed as he stood up and paced. "For year after year, I've put up with it now! I must stop this Christmas from coming! But how?" Virgil blinked. "I mean, in what way?" He let out an annoyed growl and turned to walk inside. He opened the door and was hit with a blast of cheery Christmas music. 

_ "Christmas is going to the dogs!"  _ Virgil blinked as he watches Remy lazily bath himself to the music. Virgil opened his mouth only to close it again confused. He quickly jumped at the sound of his door opening and turned to find Roman dressed in sweats.

"Roman?" Virgil asked concerned. "How are you feeling?" Roman shuffled forward and fell forward into his lover's arms. Virgil's arms came up to wrap around the other and envelope him in a hug. 

"Virgil…I want to live with you. I don't want to be down there anymore. Not with the way they keep treating me, like some ornament meant to be stared at or ignored! Please! I don't care if someone finds out, I can't live there anymore!”

Virgil blinked rapidly. "Love," he started. "Are you 100% sure about this?" Roman nodded. Virgil sighed and ran his hands through the other soft curls. 

"Virgil?" Roman asked softly after a while. 

"Hmm?"

"I want to make them pay. I want them to understand. I don't-I want them to-" Roman groaned and hurried his face in Virgil's chest, ironically too emotionally exhausted to deal with his emotions. Virgil frowned and snuggled the other closer trying to provide as much comfort as he could. Then, his mind began to whirl. 

_ Then the Grinch got an idea. An awful idea. The Grinch got a wonderful awful idea.  _

Virgil pulled away from Roman and announced. ”I’m going to steal Christmas.” Roman blinked as Virgil smirked. "They want to hurt you so bad, they'll lose Christmas. And if they want a monster, then I'll show them a monster!" 

Roman hopped up, finally finding some energy. "Yes! I'll go make the costume. You work on the sleigh!" He turned to Remy only to stop. "And you just keep bathing yourself." Roman ran off and began working while Virgil started on the monstrous sleigh. 

”With this coat and this hat, he'll look just like Saint Nick!" Roman exclaimed. As they worked, Roman's voice sang a little song he had composed from all of the stupid rumors about the Grinch.  _ "'You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch,'"  _ Virgil chuckled as he heard the other sing.  _ "'You really are a heel. You're as cuddly as a cactus, You're as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch! You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel!"  _ Roman walked over to Virgil with the hat and place it on his head as he sang and place a quick kiss to his cheeks before going back to work on the jacket.  _ "'Just face the music, you're a monster, Mr. Grinch, yes, you are. Your heart's an empty hole. Your brain is full of spiders. You've got garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch. I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole.'"  _ Virgil snorted as Roman danced around with the jacket before sitting on a table out of his way so he could work on the pants. " _ You know, if you ask the Who's Who of Whoville, No one's denyin”  _ Virgil spared a glance at Roman and smiled. Boy did he love him. 

_ "'You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch."  _ Roman picked up the song again. "' _ You have termites in your smile. You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile, Mr. Grinch. Given the choice between you, I'd take the seasick crocodile!"  _ Virgil giggled as Roman tossed the pants over to the same table. He closed the front door behind him after having moved the sleigh outside and walked over to Roman. He wrapped him in a hug and kissed his temple. Roman hummed happily. Virgil hated to have to wipe the smile from his face. 

"Roman," Roman made a small noise of acknowledgment. "I'm going to need you to go home. Just for tonight."

Roman ripped himself away from Virgil. "What?! Why?!" 

"I can't have you helping me-" 

"No! You can't--no!" 

"Roman, please-"

"No! No! No!" 

"Roman, I can't have you getting in trouble. I want to make sure if you ever want to go back, you can! I can't bare to have you help and then regret it and then want to leave but you can't because you've been shunned. Please, Roman. This is all I ask. Just this one night. Please." 

Roman stared at Virgil for a while before reluctantly nodding. "Okay," he whispered. He wasn't happy about it, but he knew it would make Virgil feel better about everything. "Okay, just-" Roman moved forward and placed a hand on Virgil's cheek. "Be careful, okay?" Virgil nodded. "Thank you." Roman pushed up on his tiptoes and gave the other a light kiss. "I'll see you later." 

"See you later," Virgil promised

\-----

Virgil sat with Remy watching Santa through a telescope. "He should be finishing up anytime now. Wanna talk about a recluse? He only comes out once a year but does he catch any hate for it? No! He probably lives up there just to avoid the  _ taxes. _ " Virgil ranted. He paused as he watched as Santa flew away in his sleigh. "Whoops. I forgot about the reindeer…" 

_ Did that stop the old Grinch? No, the Grinch simply said: _

"If I can't find a reindeer, I'll make one instead." Virgil turned around and faced Remy. "Remy!" Remy rolled his eyes and prepared himself to wear a headband with antlers. Virgil quickly found a reindeer headband and placed it on his cat's head before placing a red nose on his nose. "Okay, you're a reindeer and your motivation is that you're a deer with a red nose and nobody likes you. One day, you save Christmas-" Virgil paused. "Ignore that. We'll just improvise. You hate Christmas! You're gonna steal it! Saving Christmas was such a lousy ending. Okay and action!" 

Remy glared at Virgil before knocking the red nose off. Virgil blinked and then he gasped. "Brilliant! You regret your own nose because it represents the glitter of commercialism! Why didn't I think of that?" Then Virgil walked off and climbed into the sleigh along with Remy. 

Virgil flipped the switch and the sleigh came life, vibrating with power. "That feels good." Virgil turned to Remy "Here goes nothing," and he pressed the bottom to start actually start moving. The sleigh rose up in the air and Virgil grinned. "Wow! It actually works! Okay! Let's go! On, Crasher! On Thrasher! On, Vomit and Blitzkrieg!!!" Virgil screamed as the sleigh shot off and began spinning violently, turning over and over. "We're gonna die!" Virgil shrieked. "We're gonna die! I'm going to throw up! And then we're gonna die! Mommy, tell it to stop!!" He cried, eventually he was able to wrangle control of the sleigh and they flew smoothly through the sky. Virgil stayed frozen for a moment before allowing himself to slightly relax. He let out a sigh of relief. "Almost lost my cool there." 

_ All their windows were dark. Quiet snow filled the air. All the Whos were all dreaming sweet dreams without care when he came to the first little house on the square… _

Virgil slowly brought down the sleigh on top of the roof of an overly decorated house. He noticed a traffic light among the variety of lights. "Weird." He turned back to Remy. "This will be our first stop."

_ The old Grinchy Claus hissed. And he climbed to the roof, empty bags in his fist. He'd slide down the chimney, a rather tight pinch, but if Santa could do it, so could the Grinch. _

Virgil stood up and tied a rope around his waist. He stepped up onto the edge of the chimney and prepared to dive. "He's planning a double-twisted interrupted forward-flying 2-and-a-half with a combo tuck and like. A high degree of difficulty," Virgil muttered and jumped and dove headfirst down into the chimney. 

_ He got stuck only once, for a moment or two… _

Virgil groaned quietly. "Stupid suit," muttered, referring to the furry suit of the Grinch. Something that helped him scare kids off and leave him alone now was slowing him down from his biggest scare of all. He huffed.

_ Then he stuck his head out of the fireplace flue.  _

"A little more stealth, Thomas, please." 

Thomas lowered his voice.  _ Where the little Who stockings all hung in a row.  _

"These stockings,"  _ he grinned.  _ "Are the first things to go." The Grinch opened a jar and turned it upside down, shaking out moths. "Alright, fellas, chow time." The moths quickly gobbled up the stockings. 

_ Then he slunk to the icebox.  _

"Slunk?" 

_ He eyed the Whos' feast. He took the Who pudding. He took the roast beast.  _

"Hike!" Virgil called out as he launched the roast beast through his legs like a football player. 

_ He cleaned out that icebox as quick as a flash. Why that Grinch, even took their last can of Who-hash. Then he stuffed all the food up the chimney with glee.  _

Virgil threw the bag up the chimney and spun around to face the tree. "And now,"  _ grinned the Grinch.  _ "I'll stuff up the tree!"  _ And the Grinch grabbed the tree and he started to shove, when he heard a small sound like the coo of a dove.  _

Virgil turned to find Emile and grimaced. He felt really bad about this….

"Excuse me" Emile called softly. 

_ The Grinch had been caught by this tiny Who child, who'd got out of bed for a cup of cold water.  _

"Mr. Santa, what are you doing with our tree?" 

_ But you know, that old Grinch was so smart and so slick, he thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick.  _

"Why my sweet little tot!" Virgil exclaimed grandly. "There's a light on this tree that won't light on one side. So, I'm taking it home to my workshop, sweet child. "I'll fix it up there, then I'll bring it back here."

Emile narrowed their eyes. "Santa, what's Christmas really about?" 

"Vengeance!" Virgil exclaimed before remembering he was supposed to be pretending he was the perfect Who Santa. "I mean...presents, I suppose." 

Emile frowned. "I was afraid of that." 

_ And his fib fooled the child. Then he patted their head and got them a drink, and he sent them to bed.  _

Emile paused their journey up the stairs."Santa?"

"What?" Virgil asked. 

"Don't forget the Grinch-" 

Virgil couldn't take it anymore and walk out from behind the tree. "I'm sorry." 

Emile blinked and furrowed their brows. "Why?" 

Virgil bit his lip. "To show you all what's more important ...and to get back at everyone for upsetting Roman." 

Emile nodded. "Okay. Well...good luck, Virgil." 

_ And when Emile Lou went up with their cup, the Grinch went to the chimney and stuffed the tree up.  _ Virgil quickly shot the tree up the chimney and grabbed everything else before climbing back up the chimney.  _ And the last thing he took was the log for their fire. On their walls, he left nothing but some hooks and some wire. And the one speck of food that he'd left in the house, was a crumb that was even too small for a mouse.  _ Virgil reached down and picked the mouse up deciding to allow it to eat something so long as it wasn't in a Whos’ house.  _ Then he slithered and slunk with a smile most unpleasant, around each Who home and he took every present.  _

Virgil took a saw and cut a circle above his head and the floor fell through along with the Christmas tree and its presents. He stepped up through the hole and smirked. "They're in sale. Everything must go." And he began to take it all. 

\------

Virgil froze as he stepped into the bedroom of a magazine picture-perfect house.  _ Oh.  _ This was Roman's house. He glanced around at the decorations and found himself smiling fondly. He should have known. Everything just screamed Roman from the abundance of reds, whites, and golds. He carefully walked over to the bedside table and noticed the ring box the mayor had given Roman. He nearly growled as he went to take it before noticing something else. It was his gift. The one he had made for Roman all those years ago. Virgil's eyes watered and he forced himself to blink the tears away. He shook his head and quickly snatched the ring box off of the table. He went to move only to be stopped by a tan hand yanking him down and lips crashing into his. Virgil blinked in surprise before happily giving into Roman and allowing the other to wrap his arms around his neck. 

Roman pulled away after kissing Virgil senseless. "Virgil," he asked softly. "Please, let me help." Virgil bit his lip. "I suppose..." He started. "You can help...but...just promise that if we get caught, you say I forced you to do it, okay?" 

Roman's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait! No! I can't-" 

"Then I can't let you help." 

Roman blinked. "I-okay," he sighed in defeat. "I'll tell them you forced me." Virgil let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you." 

\-----

Roman froze as he finally dragged the attention away from Virgil's hiding place. He hadn't realized the Whos would put out guards to guard the path leading to Mount Crumpit after everyone went to bed to protect from the Grinch. From Virgil. But Virgil ran out of fuel for his rocket sleigh and he had to drag it up the mountain himself. But they were losing moonlight, and the long way around wouldn't work. So Roman offered to try and distract them. But now, he was very nervous. The Who guards had rounded on him. Accusing him of being in league with the Grinch. Of course, he was, but Virgil had made him promise and he wasn't about to break his promise. 

"You really think I'm in league with the Grinch?" Roman asked the guards. 

They nodded. "Yeah, why else wouldn't you have immediately said yes to Mayor Anton's proposal?” 

Roman grimaced. He really hated the mayor. 

"If I really hated the Grinch, would I do this?" Then Roman started his song.  _ "'You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch. You really are a heel, You're as cuddly as a cactus, You're as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch. You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel. Just face the music, you're a monster, Mr. Grinch, yes, you are. Your heart's an empty hole, Your brain is full of spiders, You've got garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch. I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole. You know, if you ask the Who's Who of Whoville No one's denyin'. You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch. You have termites in your smile. You have all the tender sweetness Of a seasick crocodile, Mr. Grinch. Given the choice between you, I'd take the seasick crocodile.'"  _

As Roman sang, he watched Virgil carefully carry the sleigh behind the two guards and try to rush up the path until he wouldn't be noticed. 

"I suppose not," one of the guards said once Roman's song was done. Then they both turned back to face the mountain. 

Roman blinked.  _ Surely it can't be that easy! _ But it seemed it was. So he turned and quickly found the nearest garbage chute and took a ride to the top of Mount Crumpit. Prepared to meet his love at the top. 

\----

_ 3,000 feet up, up the side of Mount Crumpit, he rode with his load to the tip top to dump it. _

Virgil grunted as he set the sleigh down carefully in the snow and turned to face Roman who was standing before him. "We did it!" He exclaimed excitedly. Roman grinned, leaped into his arms and wrapped him in a tight hug. Virgil placed a kiss to Roman's lips before setting him back down on his own feet. Virgil turned to Remy. "That wasn't so bad, was it Remy?" 

Remy rolled his eyes as he remembered at least 30 different breakdowns Virgil had had along the way. 

Roman turned towards the horizon. "They'll be waking up now," he said. "I know just what they'll do. All of them down in Whoville will all cry!”

\----

"What an embarrassment! I've been robbed!" The sheriff of Whoville exclaimed as she rushed out of her house to her car. She climbed in and turned the siren on blissfully unaware of the rope attached to her bumper. She quickly drove off. 

Mayor Anton awoke with a start and suddenly, his bed crashed through the big window in his room with him in it. As Whos came out of their homes they watched as the mayor slid past on his bed. As the sheriff made a turn around the Christmas tree in the middle of town, the Mayor's bed slid around and came to an abrupt stop. 

The sheriff stepped out of her car and stopped as she noticed the mayor. "Mayor May-Who?" 

The mayor quickly jumped out of bed and pulled on his robe that was luckily still attached to the bed. He looked around noticing the damage. He frowned. "I wonder who could have done this," he said as he noticed Emile and their family come into view. "I'll tell you one thing: Invite the Grinch destroy Christmas." He raised his hands and beat on his bed. "Invite the Grinch destroy Christmas!!" He paused to take a breath and Emile frowned. "But did anyone, anyone listen to me?" 

"I did!" The mayor's assistant piped in but the mayor ignored him. 

"No. You choose to listen to a little not-to-be-taken-seriously child. And they haven't even grown into their nose yet." Anton shook his head. "Emile, I hope you're very proud of what you have done." With that, the mayor turned around. 

Emile frowned and looked down as tears welled in their eyes. 

"If they aren't, then I am!” 

Mayor Anton turned around to see Patton, Emile's dad, and Logan, their father had stepped in front of them. "What?" He asked, not sure if he had heard correctly. 

"I said, if they aren't, then I am. I'm glad he took our presents."

Who's around all gasped as the Mayor gawked at them. "You're glad? He's glad!" The mayor shouted to the crowd. "You're glad that everything is gone.? You're glad the Grinch virtually wrecked…? No, no. Not wrecked, pulverized Christmas. Is that really what I'm hearing?" 

Patton sighed. "You can't hurt Christmas, Mr. Mayor. It's not about the gifts, or contests or the fancy lights." He turned and gestured to Emile who's face showed hopefulness. 

"That's what Emile has been trying to tell everybody. "

The mayor blinked. "What is wrong with you!?! This is a child!" 

Patton pulled Emile close against his side. "They're my child. They happen to by right by the way." Patton turned towards his family. "I don't need anything more for Christmas than what's right here, my family."

The Who's all erupted into cheers and began telling each other Merry Christmas. Emile smiled brightly. They finally understood. Logan grabbed a hold of Patton's robe. "Merry Christmas honey!" He yanked Patton into a kiss. Missy and Pranks covered their mouths like they were going to be sick as they moved away from their parents. 

"Give me a break!" The mayor cried out as he turned away. 

Meanwhile, Emile was looking up at Mount Crumpit before they moved to find a garbage chute. "No one should be alone on Christmas," they whispered as the hit the side and started their ride to the top of the mountain. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think?


	5. Take It Easy Guys, Gals, And Non-Binary Pals, Peace Out!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil brings back the stuff he stole and he's finally accepted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: mentions of sleigh losing control, almost crash, anxiety attack, cursing? Let me know if I missed any.

Emile landed in a pile of trash and giggled before standing up and catching a glimpse of the towering sleigh at the summit of Crumpit. They smiled and began climbing. 

\-----

"Now," Virgil began as he looked down at Whoville, his arms wrapped around Roman as he rested his head on his fiance's shoulder. "Their wailing will be like...music to my ears." Roman rolled his eyes at his dramatic love and snuggled deeper into his embrace. Virgil's grin widened as he waited. And waited. And waited. Virgil's smile faded. Then the wind carried a sound up to the couple. 

_ The Grinch heard a sound rising over the snow. It started in low, then it started to grow. But...the sound wasn't sad. Why, this sounded merry! But it was merry. Very. Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, were singing, without any presents at all. He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming. It came.  _

Virgil frowned and unwrapped his arms from around Roman's torso. Roman glanced at him worriedly. "What..I-I don't understand. How? Somehow or other it came just the same!" Virgil jumped down and landed on the ledge that led to his home, barely hearing Roman's exclamation of fear for Virgil. 

_ And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, Stood puzzling, and puzzling.  _

"How could this be so?" Virgil pouted. "It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!" 

_ And he puzzled and puzzled until his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something, he hadn't before.  _

"Maybe...maybe they actually listened…" Virgil whispered. His voice is barely audible. He froze as he felt a sense of pride well up for them in his heart. His eyes widened. He dropped to his knees. "Help me!" He cried out. "I'm-feeling!!" 

_ Of course Virgil had felt before, however, he was a dramatic emo and decided he simply had to react in such a way. Either way, Roman found he appreciated the show. Although the Whovilles all explain this as the Grinch's heart growing in size. However, they never stopped to wonder if maybe he just finally allowed himself to show his love more so than he did.  _

Up above on the summit, Emile finally came across the sleigh. "Virgil!" They called out. After staring up at the sleigh for a while and finding no way of getting around it safely, they decided the next best option was to scale the mountain of bags in the sleigh. Probably not their brightest idea, but they were doing their best. 

_ They are so precious!!  _

Roman turned from where he was watching Virgil to look at the sleigh. A noise caught his attention and now he was scanning over the sleigh to make sure everything was okay. "Virgil! Roman!" A young voice called out from somewhere on the sleigh. Roman gasped and raced over and began scaling the sleigh's cargo trying to find Emile and get them down before they got hurt. 

Below, on the ledge, Virgil glanced up and remembered the sleigh. "Oh no! The sleigh! The presents! They'll be destroyed! And I care! What is the deal?!" Virgil began scaling the mountain as he spoke. "This can't happen! It shouldn't! It couldn't! It mustn't! It wouldn't! Not now, not then, not ever again!" Virgil leaped up and tried to pull the sleigh back onto the top. But try as he might, it seemed he couldn't find the strength. Vaguely wondering where Roman was, he looked away only to have his head whip right back to the top of the sleigh at the call of his name. 

"Virgil!" 

"Emile?!?! Roman?!?! What do you think you're doing up there??!?!" 

"I came to see you. I just wanted to say Merry Christmas." 

Roman glanced behind Emile before turning to Virgil. "And I was trying to help them down. But it seems I got myself stuck here as well."

Virgil would have chuckled at his love had the situation not been so nerve-wracking and dire. He grabbed ahold of the bottom of the sleigh and began to slowly lift it off the ground and carefully place it back down on the sturdier ground. Roman stared down at Virgil once again experiencing Gay Panic™ "My husband is fucking strong!" 

"Language," Emile called out before sliding down into Virgil's open arms. Roman blinked and grumbled before following them. He quickly planted a kiss on Virgil's lips before racing around to get into the front of the sleigh. 

"Come on! Let’s ride down!" Roman called out as he took hold of the handles. Virgil rolled his eyes as he slid in beside Emile, making sure the young child was secure between them before allowing them to push off down the hill. They rode down the snowy hill for some time before getting close enough to Whoville that they needed to start slowing down. Roman grabbed the brake handle and began to pull it back. It didn't go so well. "The brake!" He shouted over the rushing wind. "It broke off!" 

"What?!?!" Virgil exclaimed. He quickly switched places as he inspected what used to be the brake. He felt his chest tighten as he realized, there was a real risk of crashing. "WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" He screamed. 

Roman pulled Emile closer to him. "He's just being dramatic. Don't listen to him," He whispered before turning back to Virgil. "Come on, calm down Virgil. We got this. Name five things you can see."

"Impending doom," Virgil replied immediately before he actually tried. "Um, snow, trees, Whoville, my hands, you." 

"Four things you can feel." 

"The wind, snow, your hand, and...my clothes?"

"Good, now three things you can hear."

"The wind, you, Emile." 

"Very good. Two things you can smell."

"Umm…peppermint andddddd cinnamon."

"Almost done, now one thing you can taste." 

"Uhhh snow, I guess?" 

"Very good. Now, just breathe. We are going to be okay." 

"Okay...okay. Yeah. We..we should probably give Whoville a heads up."

Roman nodded. "Yeah." 

"HEADS UP WHOVILLE!!" Virgil shouted. 

Down in the town, Logan and Patton gasped as they heard Emile's sudden scream. "Emile!" Logan quickly raced over to a strand of lights. He ripped them off the side of a house and tossed one end at Patton. "We'll hold this up to try and stop them." Patton nodded and they pulled the strand taut just as the sleigh ran into them only for them to be jerked along as the sleigh barreled ahead. "Out of the way!" Virgil screamed. "I have no insurance!!" 

"Run for your lives!!" Roman yelled, hoping to cause less damage. "Watch out! We can't stop!" 

Damien and Remus shared a glance before stepping out in front of the Christmas tree and in the direction the sleigh was heading and held up their hands almost as if that would stop the out of control sleigh. 

Virgil's eyes went wide. "Dads! Move!!" 

"Dads, move it!" Roman exclaimed in worry and fear as he held Emile tighter to protect them. However, the sleigh came to a slow and stop right before it pushed Remus and Damien and the tree over. Virgil let out a squeak and dropped into his seat. Emile scrambled out of Roman's embrace to check and make sure Remus and Damien were okay as Roman checked on Virgil. 

"Emile!" Patton and Logan exclaimed as they pulled themselves up and raced over to pull their child into a relieved hug. Roman carefully helped Virgil stand. "Merry Christmas!" They exclaimed together despite Virgil still feeling a little shell shocked at almost running over his parents. 

Out of the crowd stepped the sheriff who crossed her arms. "What do you have here?" 

Virgil glanced at Roman and quickly pulled away, before hopping out of the sleigh. "You got me officer!" He exclaimed as he pulled off his grinch gloves. "I'm the Grinch that stole Christmas!" Virgil let out a sigh. "And I'm sorry." He held out his wrists. A few moments passed before he spoke again. "Aren't you gonna cuff me? Put me in a chokehold? Blind me with pepper spray!?" 

Anton shoved through the crowd. "You heard him, officer! He admitted it!" The mayor leaned in closer to the sheriff. "I'd go with the pepper spray," he whispered. Virgil gasped and glared at the mayor.

"Yeah, I heard him quite fine. He said he was sorry." Virgil stopped his glaring to blink at the sheriff in an attempt to comprehend what she just said. "Besides, it looks to me as if everything is all here and accounted for." 

Mayor Anton blinked. "But…" he turned to look at the other Who's. "Help me out here. Anyone? Roman? Roman!" 

Roman's head popped up from the top of the bag mountain after having rifled through to find the thing he was looking for. "Merry Christmas, Anton May-Who! Fortunately, I do have something for you!" Roman then slid off the mountain and stumbled as he tried to regain his balance once he hit solid ground. Virgil moved to help him before thinking better of it, but stopped as he worried the mayor might attack him if he even went near Roman. Roman held out the ring box Anton has proposed with. "Your ring back." He turned to face Virgil. "My heart belongs to someone else. It always has, you just never respected me enough to listen." Roman moved forward to embrace Virgil, the engagement ring Virgil had given him sparkling bright on his finger. 

Emile smiled at the two as they stood with their family. This was going to be the best Christmas ever. 

\----

_ So he brought back the toys and the food for the feast. And he- he himself, the Grinch, carved the roast beast.  _

_ And they all lived happily ever after. Take it easy guys, gals and non-binary pals. Peace out! _

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! I hope you liked this fic. I tried to be as inclusive as I could but since I myself celebrate Christmas, I wouldn't want to incorrectly represent a different holiday. But I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday season! Thank you for reading!!! Also, if you really liked this fic, go say thank you to @icequeenoriginal on Tumblr for helping out with this fic and being a co-creator. Seriously, some of these moments wouldn't have happened without them.   
> Anyway, Happy Holidays everyone!


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